BATH trail running star Damian Hall will get the ‘red carpet’ treatment this weekend with the world premier of a film in which he plays the starring role.
The ‘Underdog’ chronicles his preparation and performance in this year’s Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) when he realised his lifelong ambition of making the top ten for the first time.
The 20 minutes short production, directed by husband and wife team Matt and Ellie Green of Summit Fever Media, is being given its first public showing at the three-day Kendal Mountain Festival in the Lake District (Nov 16-18th) and Hall is travelling up with his family from their home in Box to enjoy the moment and appear on stage for a question and answer session.
“I have known Matt and Ellie for a few years and we get on really well,” said Hall.
“We had already done a few things on film together for promotions and they also did a clip of me running the South West Coast Path.
“They were aware of my obsession with the UTMB and my dream of finishing in the top ten so they asked if they could film my preparations for the event and then the race itself.”
Ultimately Hall gave the film makers a better story than they could have dreamed of as he finished fifth in the 171K race that loops through peaks and valleys around the intersection of France, Italy, and Switzerland, which was the best result by a British athlete for eight years.
The film ‘Underdog’ is available to purchase on-line next Monday.